The decade following World War II becomes one of tragedy, excitement and unexpected change for the five Novak children and the residents of their western Pennsylvania town of company houses, church festivals, union squabbles, and firemen's parades.

Myra Lamb of Bloodroot Mountain has troubling "haint" blue eyes and a grandma whose touch charms people and animals alike. When their neighbor John Odom tries to tame Myra, he meets a with shocking, violent disaster.

Lonely, restless and bored with her life as a houswife in the 1950s Pine Rapids, Wisconsin, Dolly Magnuson becomes fascinated by the abandoned grand old house on the hill and sets out to unravel the dark secrets of the family that once owned it.

This tale set, against a backdrop of New York City's history from its founding through the September 11 attacks, traces the experiences of characters who witness such periods as the Revolutionary War, the city's emergence as a financial giant, and the Gilded Age.

Routinely making decisions that have dangerous consequences, strong-willed aristocrat's daughter Celia Lytton sets in motion a series of events during World War I that have a particular impact on her family.